An old video of a man, unable to afford to ambulance fares, forced to carry his son's dead body on his motorbike in Andhra Pradesh is viral falsely linking it to the recent stampede at the Tirupati temple.
BOOM found the incident is from April, 2022 when a man in Andhra Pradesh carried the dead body of his son, travelling 90 kms back to his village, from the hospital where he had passed away.
On January 8, a stampede broke out near Vishnu Nivasam temple in Tirupati as hundreds of eager devotees from across the country gathered to collect tickets for the Vaikuntha Dwara Darshanam that is set to commence from January 10. The tragic incident has left at least six people dead with several others severely injured. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has announced an ex-gratia of rupees 25 lakhs for the family members of the deceased.
The 43-second viral video shows a man lifting a child's body from a stretcher inside a hospital, carrying him outside to a bike driven by another while an ambulance remains stationed nearby. The video is captioned as, "They asked 20,000₹ for an ambulance to transport a 12-year-old child who died in Tirupati Government Hospital. Child's father carries his son 90 KM due to lack of money!"
Sharing the video, an X user claimed, "A father could not even get an ambulance for his son's body??? The innocent child lost his life in the Tirupati accident. #TirupatiStampede"
Click here to see post and here for an archive.
Fact Check: Incident from 2022
BOOM ran a related keyword search which led us to an X post by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Naidu where he had posted the same video in 2022.
Naidu's post dated April 26, 2022 identified the deceased minor as Jesava.
See post here.
Consequence of Hiked Ambulance Charges
A keyword search on Google revealed several news articles from April, 2022 about the incident.
The reports said Jesava, aged 10, passed away at the Sri Venkateswara Ramnarayan Ruia government general Hospital in Tirupati because of liver and kidney failure. After Jesava's body was released by the hospital, his father waited for the government ambulance that never arrived while private ambulances asked for a price he was unable to afford.
A Times of India article published on April 26, 2022 containing a screengrab of the viral video called the incident "inhumane" and said it was consequence of an "ambulance mafia" operating in the region.
Police Clarification on False Link To Tirupati Stampede
In an X post on January 9, 2025, the Andhra Pradesh Police issued a clarification that the clip is an incident from 2022, with no link to the recent stampede at the Tirupati temple.
See here.